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Old 09-15-2009, 09:32 AM
 
19 posts, read 58,565 times
Reputation: 24

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I have this listed on the other half of this forum only because I've noticed that many people do not frequent both sides. I hope I can get some sincere answers as I am wanting to do this whole thing right, but feel I've made a poor decision in my choice of Realtor.
A bit of history - It's a relocation listing, we are not transferring, my SO's company has secured the relocation company to assist us in selling. I had 3 Realtors to choose from. We would like to move across town, close to his job and away from this home because our son died unexpectedly the WEEK we moved in! Our home is located on a street that has houses that range in price from 400K to 900K. Our's is listed at 629K.
It is located in a top rated school district, next to a park. It is considered a nice location. There are new builds nearby, however they are priced at the same or higher than our 6 year old home.
Our home is also 2000 or more square feet larger than the new builds and the new builds do not come with finished basements. Our house is kept very nice. Our Realtor suggested we list it at 669K, but we were hoping if we priced it lower it would sell quicker. We can't even get people in to see the house! Only 2 houses have sold in our price range this summer. (That I know of)

How often do realtors and clients actually speak to each other?
How much interaction is normal and expected?
Do you really KNOW your clients home?
Have you been to it more than once?
Mine has been here once - the day she came to present her sales pitch, take pictures of my home and have me sign the contact. I have never seen her since. Is that normal?

My Realtor only sends me automatic findings such as this:

The following activity took place through our web presence.
Yesterday:

On Prudential Real Estate
  • Your property was returned in the results of 2 searches.
  • Your property was viewed in Search Results 2 times.
In the last week:

On Prudential Real Estate
  • Your property was returned in the results of 22 searches.
  • Your property was viewed in Search Results 14 times.
  • The Property Details page for your listing was viewed 3 times.
On Yahoo!
  • Your property was clicked on 1 time to get more information on the Prudential Real Estate site.
In the last 30 days:

On Prudential Real Estate
  • Your property was returned in the results of 101 searches.
  • Your property was viewed in Search Results 69 times.
  • The Property Details page for your listing was viewed 7 times.
I had a Realtor 'Tour' the first week we had it listed -- three came. My own Realtor didn't even show up!

In fact, she has only been in my house once. Is that normal?

Trying to get feedback from her is like pulling teeth. She says it's because the other Realtors don't fill out the form she has online. I asked her why she couldn't call them herself and she got rather defensive.

Also, 2 of the whopping 4 showings I've had were not even qualified! I do not know about the other 2 - they were from out of town. I was really disappointed that she allowed unqualified people to come through since it's a 6000 square foot house and I have to make sure it's showroom ready on my own (I do not have a cleaning woman, but don't really need one as it's just my SO and myself living here.) not to mention, it just seems unprofessional to let unqualified buyers through a client's house, especially at this pice range (which is considered to be on the higher end for Pittsburgh).

Our Realtor recently suggested this to me:
"I spoke with some of the other listing agents that have homes listed in your area/price range and we discussed coordinating a group effort to offer an incentive to bring in buyers. The agents I spoke to were in favor of this but all agreed that it would have to be a substantial incentive such as $10,000 toward buyer closing costs or some other attractive incentive. This could be done on an individual basis as an alternative to the group effort as well."
Great about 3 months too late. The selling season is just about over now.
Then to top things off. When we were due to be out of town, she asked if we could have another Realtor Tour. I said yes, even though only 3 realtors came (2 from the same office) the last time. I requested she be there because we have some very expensive items that can't be put away easily. Her response was this:

"Also, as we discussed, please check with **** and let me know if we can have another realtor tour on August 25. I promise I would monitor the property during this time and make sure it is left the way you want it. I would be able to stay at the house during the tour. I would also like to be able to show your property while you are in Florida if the opportunity arises. Once again, I can be there for all showings during this time and make sure everything is perfect and secured."

Well guess what?
She never showed up. And of course, someone took a poop in our first floor bathroom and never flushed! (There is a lockbox outside) Not to mention, she never even came into the house.
How do I know? Because of the bathroom situation and my SO left a pan in the sink! The dishwasher was empty, SO meant to put it in there but forgot because of being preoccupied with dropping our two yorkies off at the Pets Hotel which is around a 45 minute drive away and catch a 830 am flight - about 45 minutes in the OTHER direction of said pet hotel!
Also because she so kindly wrote to me to let me know that she had brought in a package that arrived at our door and brought it inside. It was still next to the door. If she had been there, she would have known WHO - if anyone - came by and she cannot recall.
Not to mention, who lets a dirty dish remain in the sink when showing a home?
I asked her to make sure it was in perfect shape before showing because I knew SO was going to be running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.I wasn't asking her to clean, I would never expect that. Our house is super clean most of the time.

So what do you make of all this? Opinions? Anyone?
Thanks!
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Old 09-15-2009, 10:40 AM
 
Location: Barrington
63,919 posts, read 46,498,517 times
Reputation: 20674
Quote:
Originally Posted by JosephCampbell View Post

How often do realtors and clients actually speak to each other? Depends upon mutual expections.
How much interaction is normal and expected? There is no such thing as normal . It depends on the people involved and motivation.
Do you really KNOW your clients home? Some agents do and some do not.
Have you been to it more than once? Some agents do and some do not.
Mine has been here once - the day she came to present her sales pitch, take pictures of my home and have me sign the contact. I have never seen her since. Is that normal? No such thing as normal. Every client and aget is different.
There is no such thing as a one agent fits all.

I am a very hands on agent. I am intense and focused on helping my clients achieve their real estate objectives. I will know their property almost as well as they do.

I understand how markets work and how time is money in a declining market. My style works best with highly motivated clients.

Having said this, I am not the right agent for all people. My intensity carries the potential to overwhelm ( imagine that ) some clients who are content with monthly web generated updates and are hunky dory that it will take many moons/years to get sold. In a declining market, this usually means leaving money on the table, while chasing the market down.

This whole relocation intervention thing is unusual, given you are not relocating out of area. It is customary for agents to pay a substantial referral fee, upon closing and for the broker/agent split to be different than a non relo transaction. In otherwords, the financial incentive is not the same as if you hired an agent without the benefit of a relocation refferal.

Unless use of a relocation company assigned agent is tied to some other benefit, you might do better hiring an agent outright and expressing your expectations, upfront. You are, afterall, the employer.
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Old 09-15-2009, 11:02 AM
 
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
2,124 posts, read 8,819,986 times
Reputation: 818
yeah, I know this is off topic (and I answered at the other post anyway) BUT why are you using a relo company when you are just moving across town? and are you planning to use the same agent to purchase? I'm just curious...
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Old 09-15-2009, 11:52 AM
 
19 posts, read 58,565 times
Reputation: 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by shellytc View Post
yeah, I know this is off topic (and I answered at the other post anyway) BUT why are you using a relo company when you are just moving across town? and are you planning to use the same agent to purchase? I'm just curious...
I'm going to try to email you my response privately.
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Old 09-16-2009, 09:29 PM
 
175 posts, read 669,825 times
Reputation: 113
I cannot speak to the general experience, I can only speak to my own... so far. We selected our realtor after interviewing several and interviewing her twice. Since we called her and offered her the listing, this is our interaction to date:

She first came over to our home to review the listing agreement, look over our home again, and determine a listing price. We were still uncertain as to a listing price so, in addition to setting us up with a professional photographer for the listing photos, she set up appointments for us to look at other homes in our area listed in our price range so we could see how we compare to what is currently on the market. Two days later, she reviewed paper work with us while the photographer took pictures and then took us on a tour of four homes that are currently listed in our area.

Two days after the photo shoot and the comp viewing, she arranged for 8 agents from her agency to view our property. A few hours after she and those agents viewed the property she came back over to our home to discuss their reaction and help us set a price.

She also e-mailed the results from the professional photographer taht afternoon. We looked at the pictures, felt some were wonderful but others were too wide angle and did not capture the feeling of the house. When we spoke to her about it, she came by the next day with her own (very professional, high-end camera) and we took some more pictures to fill in the blanks. She sent the pictures over a few hours later and we were able to pick and assemble the pictures we would like to see listed.

Mind you... we are not even listed yet. She has already worked so hard for us (with a smile the whole time), that I am very happy with the response.

You pay a realtor what feels like a big chunk of the equity you earned in your home, you deserve to feel like they are working for you. We're very happy so far and I believe you should feel the same.
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Old 09-22-2009, 04:32 PM
 
Location: Columbia, SC
10,907 posts, read 21,874,385 times
Reputation: 10539
How often do realtors and clients actually speak to each other? Depends on client and Realtor needs.
How much interaction is normal and expected? Same as above
Do you really KNOW your clients home? Not as well as you do, but the Realtor doesn't have to in order to get showings. You can do things like note cards pointing out special features to help. After all, your agent may not be there for showings to point things out even if they know the home like the back of their hand.
Have you been to it more than once? Normally, but again, see the above.
Mine has been here once - the day she came to present her sales pitch, take pictures of my home and have me sign the contact. I have never seen her since. Is that normal? Maybe, see above.


Now, the answer to your post, the really short answer:
1-Help you price and condition properly
2-Market
3-Negotiate
4-Troubleshoot
5-Legwork/paper work/ deliver docs/followup

Of course it's not that easy and a Realtor has to where many hats but in a nutshell, that's it. There is HUGE difference between a true expert and an average Realtor.
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Old 09-23-2009, 07:57 AM
 
Location: Hermoso y tranquilo Panamá
11,874 posts, read 11,020,934 times
Reputation: 47194
Quote:
Originally Posted by middle-aged mom View Post
There is no such thing as a one agent fits all.

I am a very hands on agent. I am intense and focused on helping my clients achieve their real estate objectives. I will know their property almost as well as they do.

I understand how markets work and how time is money in a declining market. My style works best with highly motivated clients.

Having said this, I am not the right agent for all people. My intensity carries the potential to overwhelm ( imagine that ) some clients who are content with monthly web generated updates and are hunky dory that it will take many moons/years to get sold. In a declining market, this usually means leaving money on the table, while chasing the market down.

This whole relocation intervention thing is unusual, given you are not relocating out of area. It is customary for agents to pay a substantial referral fee, upon closing and for the broker/agent split to be different than a non relo transaction. In otherwords, the financial incentive is not the same as if you hired an agent without the benefit of a relocation refferal.

Unless use of a relocation company assigned agent is tied to some other benefit, you might do better hiring an agent outright and expressing your expectations, upfront. You are, afterall, the employer.
Ditto what MAM said and I do want to express my condolences about the loss of your son. Nothing worse than losing a child. I'm curious though why since you posted your question on a forum, when someone asked you why you were using a relocation company you said you would email them privately.

From reading your OP, because you chose to go through a relo company (even though not a job transfer) you were limited to "3 agents to choose from" - that could be a big part of why you're not receiving the levels of service you want/need/deserve. I'd say 99.9% of the realtors on this board encourge both buyers and sellers to interview many different agents from different brokerages - whether independent or franchise - ask questions, talk to the agents about 'your' expectations, so you make an informed decision who to hire. Like MAM said, "You" are the employer.

Limiting yourself to only '3' agents, well, is limiting your ability to find an agent who is the right 'fit' for you. Best of luck.
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Old 09-27-2009, 07:07 PM
 
Location: North Pittsburgh
353 posts, read 1,724,177 times
Reputation: 156
Quote from MiddleAgedMom "This whole relocation intervention thing is unusual, given you are not relocating out of area. It is customary for agents to pay a substantial referral fee, upon closing and for the broker/agent split to be different than a non relo transaction. In otherwords, the financial incentive is not the same as if you hired an agent without the benefit of a relocation refferal."

The agent who took the listing knew that this was a Relo and that a huge percentage of her commission would go to the Relo company as well as doing a lot of extra paperwork for the Relo company - however, this decreased "financial incentive" to the agent should not affect the quality of service the seller receives.

OP needs to call the relocation company and voice his concerns and also the agent's manager.
OP is paying the going commission rate - it is not his problem that the relo company is getting a percentage of that commission.
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Old 09-27-2009, 08:25 PM
Status: "Mistress of finance and foods." (set 25 days ago)
 
Location: Coastal Georgia
50,068 posts, read 63,428,947 times
Reputation: 92660
Years on market: 2
Number of different agents and RE companies: 2
Number of times either of them communicated: hardly ever
I get the same Prudential report as you do weekly, but that's about it.
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Old 09-27-2009, 11:06 PM
 
Location: Barrington
63,919 posts, read 46,498,517 times
Reputation: 20674
Quote:
Originally Posted by PghREA View Post

The agent who took the listing knew that this was a Relo and that a huge percentage of her commission would go to the Relo company as well as doing a lot of extra paperwork for the Relo company - however, this decreased "financial incentive" to the agent should not affect the quality of service the seller receives.

OP needs to call the relocation company and voice his concerns and also the agent's manager.
OP is paying the going commission rate - it is not his problem that the relo company is getting a percentage of that commission.
I agree it should not but it sometimes, does.
I agree with you that OP should ask to be reassigned to another agent who is more compatiable and able to communicate.
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